I think I was in your shoes last year. I *thought* I wanted to learn “data analysis”, took an online course, and became way over my head and also realized that I probably didn’t really know what “data analysis” meant.
It sounds like, at the minimum, an intro to statistics course might be useful. I don’t think there’s much math, but more ways of thinking about things like what “probability” means, was really helpful for me as a foundation for learning other related stuff.
Yup. definitely the shoes I’m in, glad to find beforehand that i might not want to take them for a walk ;)
Though i actually would like to learn the math (and math needed for it before that), not just the thought process—do you have any suggestions? or even know just the prerequisites?
I would say that logic is actually more important than math, though my knowledge of “data analysis” is very limited. Again, basic statistical knowledge and math is useful...things like what is/how to calculate standard deviations, correlation, regression, etc.
Also, non-math-related concepts like how to clean and organize data is very important, though I never even though about it until I started learning about data analysis. After all, garbage in, garbage out.
I would say that logic is actually more important than math
can you elaborate? :)
I kind’a sort’a thought learning data analysis would give me “magical powers” to glean insight from data....like I could just throw a bunch of data on a spreadsheet, run some formulas and functions, and voila...enlightenment. But there’s a LOT that goes into deciding things like what kind of data to use, what to exclude, *how* to process the data, how to *interpret* the data *and* the results, etc. The formulas and statistics is just a small part of the toolbox used in data analysis.
There’s a lot of planning, pre-planning, figuring out what you want to find out and how to get there from what you have...you have to use a lot of logic, critical thinking skills, things like that before you even start doing the math and statistics, and certainly *after* you do the math. Does that make sense?
basically you say that pretty much all rationality skills (Logic, knogledge of biases and heuristics, etc...) are needed or beneficial to know how not to make mistakes while handling the data—right?
Yep. I think the best lessons I’ve learned revolve around actually *trying* to second guess myself. I’d crunch some numbers, feeling confident that I did everything right, only to realize that my assumptions or logic or something *other* than the mechanics of number crunching was off or wrong.
I think I was in your shoes last year. I *thought* I wanted to learn “data analysis”, took an online course, and became way over my head and also realized that I probably didn’t really know what “data analysis” meant.
It sounds like, at the minimum, an intro to statistics course might be useful. I don’t think there’s much math, but more ways of thinking about things like what “probability” means, was really helpful for me as a foundation for learning other related stuff.
Yup. definitely the shoes I’m in, glad to find beforehand that i might not want to take them for a walk ;)
Though i actually would like to learn the math (and math needed for it before that), not just the thought process—do you have any suggestions? or even know just the prerequisites?
I would say that logic is actually more important than math, though my knowledge of “data analysis” is very limited. Again, basic statistical knowledge and math is useful...things like what is/how to calculate standard deviations, correlation, regression, etc.
I’ve taken this class, and while it’s specific to Google Sheets, looking at the syllabus might give you some clues about what to study: https://courses.benlcollins.com/p/data-analysis-with-google-sheets
Also, non-math-related concepts like how to clean and organize data is very important, though I never even though about it until I started learning about data analysis. After all, garbage in, garbage out.
I began going through some basics on khan academy, and plan to then learn statistics and probability there.
i think I’ll wait with learning data analysis at least until after that.
can you elaborate? :)
I kind’a sort’a thought learning data analysis would give me “magical powers” to glean insight from data....like I could just throw a bunch of data on a spreadsheet, run some formulas and functions, and voila...enlightenment. But there’s a LOT that goes into deciding things like what kind of data to use, what to exclude, *how* to process the data, how to *interpret* the data *and* the results, etc. The formulas and statistics is just a small part of the toolbox used in data analysis.
There’s a lot of planning, pre-planning, figuring out what you want to find out and how to get there from what you have...you have to use a lot of logic, critical thinking skills, things like that before you even start doing the math and statistics, and certainly *after* you do the math. Does that make sense?
Yup, thanks :)
basically you say that pretty much all rationality skills (Logic, knogledge of biases and heuristics, etc...) are needed or beneficial to know how not to make mistakes while handling the data—right?
Yep. I think the best lessons I’ve learned revolve around actually *trying* to second guess myself. I’d crunch some numbers, feeling confident that I did everything right, only to realize that my assumptions or logic or something *other* than the mechanics of number crunching was off or wrong.